Fox and the Hound
by DeathRiders
Summary: Hope Brooks never thought her tribe's legends could be true. She loved them, but they were nothing more than old stories. Right? / Hope Brooks is more than people realize. A freak among freaks. ( JasperXOC )
1. 1) Stories Get Twisted

**Fox and the Hound**

 _Stories get Twisted_

People love labels. As a society we use them every day, you can't escape them. We use them to categorize and generalize. Sure, you come across ones that don't fully match our premade expectations, but we just write them off and make a new label. Freaks. Outcasts. Losers.

My name is Hope Brooks and I am a freak among freaks. The outlier in a group of outliers. Did I mention how much I hate labels?

* * *

I've lived my whole life in La Push, Washington. I've never known anything else, but I can't say that I have ever wanted to. I love my home. I love my culture, my family, and my history. That's why it never made sense to me when my brother would say he didn't want to come with us to the bonfires. Bonfires meant stories. I've practically memorized every one and, yet I attended every bonfire we had.

It started out like every other Friday night. The sky was dark and clouds loomed overhead, but no rain had fallen. I had just left First Beach, one of the last people to leave the late night bonfire. My mind was still in a cloudy haze that always came with hearing our tribal stories. I must have walked down the wrong road or taken a wrong turn, because, when my head finally cleared, I didn't know where I was.

I knew my reservation like the back of my hand but, the sun had set too far for me to see the small landmarks and familiar signals that would tell me where I was. Signing, I continued walking down the long, barren dirt road.  
As I walked, I couldn't help that feeling when you walk alone at night. All girls know what I mean. When you're walking home and it's just a little too dark for comfort. That feeling when you watched a scary movie for the first time and now have to walk around your halls at three in the morning to use the bathroom. The feeling that sends you running despite the fact that you know nothing is there.

Signing, I shook my head. The reserve is safe. Nothing has ever happened here before. Nothing is behind me. I'm fine. I kept telling myself that as I walked just a little faster. This went on until, somewhere around me, a twig snapped, and without meaning to, I broke out into a sprint. My emotions fell out of control and I felt like I was running for my life. My legs moved under me so fast I felt like I was about to trip.

The farther I ran, the more my body begged for a rest. I was never the most athletic and now more than ever I wished that wasn't the case. My lungs burned and my heart was pounding so hard I could hear the blood rushing past my ears.

The aches quickly turned into agonizing pain. My heart was beating so hard I thought it would give out, my body so curled in on itself in pain I felt as if my spine had broken. I was screaming, tears streaming down my face as my body shook with uncontrollable spasms and collapsed on the road. Eventually, the pain grew too much, and I passed out.

When I came to, it had gotten darker and the pain had greatly subsided. I tried to push myself off the ground but, I couldn't gather the energy to move. I knew I couldn't just lay there. No one would find me until the morning, and I was almost sure I had just had a seizure.

I looked around, hoping to see anything I could use to help balance my weight once I finally had the strength to push myself up off the ground. Close to my face, I could see some sort of animal, it's deep red fur brushing against my nose. Worried it could be a wild animal rather than a household pet, I tried lifting my arms to push myself away as far as possible without disturbing it. When I lifted my arm, the animal moved along with it. Shocked, I moved farther and it moved along with me yet again. It was then that I realize that the fur didn't belong to an animal… It belonged to me.

It took me a solid hour to calm down enough to relax. Once I was calmer, I pulled my body, which I now knew was much smaller than it should have been, into the woods just far enough to hide from any early morning joggers and passed out in the nearby bushes, praying that when I awoke all of this would be a dream; nothing more than a sugar-induced nightmare. A dream based on tribal stories that got twisted and turned around by my mind.

Hours later, I was woken up by something pushing me. "Hope… Hope Brooks, you better get the hell up. I know that is you," someone said, continuing to shove me back and forth. Eventually, I got the energy to open my eyes and saw my mother staring back at me, her face a mix of emotions.

"Hope if that is you, listen to me. Get up and shake your head," she ordered, moving her hands away from my body and allowing me to do as she told me.

"Hope!" She sighed, her eyes gaining a compassionate look. "Oh baby, I was so worried. You have to change back. Think human." I gave her a head tilt, hoping to convey my internal thought of 'How the hell do you 'think human'?'.

"Right, um… think about what you look like. Imagine your looking in a mirror and think about everything you see," she explained. Sighing, I did as she asked and though it took me another hour of frustration and confusion, I finally got it. One minute I was a tiny unknown creature, and the next I was me. Only naked.

My mom, already two steps ahead, hands me one my oversized school t-shirts and some shorts that, I was assuming, she got from her purse and turns around to let me get dressed. My mind was running a thousand miles a minute, and full of questions.

"What the hell Mom!" I whispered, still freaking out. "This isn't real. This shit belongs in a movie!"

"Baby, I promise this is real." Her voice was soft, but her demeanour was full of worry. "We need to go. Once we get home, I can explain but we can't be out here right now." Her eyes were shifting around, looking for any possible threat along the completely empty road.

Seeing that there was no way to get any answers out of her here, I sighed and simply agreed.

* * *

So I think this is already better than the original version I wrote a while ago. What do you guys think? Hopefully, you will learn to love Hope. I want to make her someone who cares about her tribe more than most her age. Make sure to leave your thoughts and ideas in a review.

Question: If you could shift into anything, what would it be?

My Answer: A fish maybe... something aquatic. I just love the ocean, but I don't wanna even think of the things living in it - too scary!

~DeathRiders


	2. 2) What Now?

_"Baby, I promise this is real." Her voice was soft, but her demeanour was full of worry. "We need to go. Once we get home, I can explain but we can't be out here right now." Her eyes were shifting around, looking for any possible threat along the completely empty road._

 _Seeing that there was no way to get any answers out of her here, I sighed and simply agreed._

* * *

We were silent on the walk back home. Nothing was said, and yet, I had so much to say. My mother shivered slightly in the cool air, but I was warm. This only added to my confusion because I was usually frozen, even when others were complaining of the heat.

My mother's soft steps were the only sound I heard as we finally turned the corner onto our street. Within seconds, we were standing outside our small two bedroom home.

The white wooden door opened without a sound, and we tiptoed our way inside. I could only hope that my brother, Skyler, had fallen asleep early tonight instead of staying up like he usually did most Friday nights. I couldn't think of how we would have explained this.

I looked to my left, barely making out the clock that read two-thirty in the morning. My darkly coloured eyes wandered to the mirror just below, and I silently plucked a few twigs and blades of grass out of my shoulder length, equally brown hair. I looked like I had just gotten the shit beat out my by a bush.

A tap on my shoulder pulled my attention away from the mirror. My mother looked tired and worn from what was most likely hours of searching. Clearly, the stress had gotten to her. How she even knew to look for an animal, I had no clue. She pushed her finger to her lips and pointed upstairs.

Getting the message, I followed her silently. Neither of us made a sound until we had safely entered and closed the door to my mother's bedroom. My father worked nights, so we were alone in the room. I took a seat on my father side of the bed, the one closest to the door, and looked to my mother. She couldn't avoid my questions now.

"What happened to me? How did you know to look for an animal? What happened to me?" I questioned. My mother looked at me and then took a seat beside me, her hands clenched tightly in her lap. "Mom?"

She opened her mouth a few times before any words came out, "I should have told you."

"Told me what?" I was confused. She hadn't answered any of my questions, only created more.

"I didn't warn you. I knew this could happen and I did nothing!" She answered, her voice shaking as she pulled me into her arms. I could feel the coolness of her tears on the side of my face as she sniffled.

"What?" Still confused, I pushed away from her slightly, forcing her to release me. "Mom, take a breath and explain. I don't understand. "

Mom takes a few minutes to calm down and catch her breath. Her tears had subsided but she still looks emotional. "Honey, your family isn't exactly normal… You know the tribe's legends, right? The ones about the wolves?"

"Yeah." My voice is quiet, my mind filling with more questions and confusion with every passing second.

"You are similar to them. I'm not sure why it started, I was never told a lot about it. The story goes that you shift like the wolf warriors in legends. You're a fox shifter, Hope. When you didn't come home, after what happened with your brother, I knew something like this must have happened. "

"What does Skyler have to do with this?" I muttered to myself.

"It's a long story, Baby. Your father is Quileute and I'm not, you know that." She took a deep breath before continuing with her very confusing explanation. "The legends are true. There's a gene that gets passed down through the males that bring about a new pack of warriors every few generations. Your brother is a wolf shifter.

You're different though. You didn't get your shifting from your father. You inherited it from me. It's genetic, it runs on my side of the family. None of us have shifted for a few generations but, the stories are passed on. The last one the I know about was your great-grandmother. I never met her but my mum told me stories about her," She said, trailing off.

"Why me then? Why now?" I questioned.

"I don't know, baby. It wasn't in the stories, they never explained why. I-" She paused and wiped her hand across her face. She looked stressed.

"Mom?"

"I'm sorry, Baby. I just… I need a minute." She takes a deep breath and then continued. "I never thought this would happen, not to you. I thought... I thought we had breed it out over the years. I thought that maybe... maybe you and your brother would be..."

"What? Normal?" I asked, standing up.I was offended. Who the hell is normal nowadays anyway? We are all fucked up in some way or another.

"No," She yelling. We both looked at the door immediately, silently praying that Skyler had slept through the noise. "I didn't say that. I didn't want you to worry about this. I wanted you to focus on school, friends, life."

I shook my head as I marched towards the door, "I'm going to bed."

"Baby, wait -"

"No mom, I'm exhausted. Can we just talk in the morning? Please?" I said, not looking back at her. I was angry. I knew that if I looked back at her, I would say things I didn't mean.

"Okay. Goodnight Baby," she sighed.

"Good night, Mom." I shut the door behind me and tiptoed down the hall and into my room. The familiar white walls, adorned with posters and paintings met my now blurry eyes. Without changing, I flopped onto my bed, pulled the covers over my head, and let the tears flow.

What now?


	3. 3) Hearing Voices

_**"I'm hearing voices all around**_

 _ **I'm hearing voices calling out**_

 _ **What would they say**_

 _ **What would it change**_

 _ **I'm hearing voices all around"**_

 **-OneRepublic, Hearing Voices**

* * *

"You can't just stay in your room all day, Hope."

"Watch me."

That was a few days ago.

I hadn't left my room since Friday; it's currently Monday. I'm sure people were wondering where I was. After all, it's unlike me to not be out and about during the weekends and I rarely missed school, unlike my brother. But every time I looked out my window or towards my mother's room across the hall, I was reminded of that night. I just wanted to forget about it. If I didn't think about it, it couldn't be real.

Things never work out how we want them to though. No matter how much I ignore it, it will always be there, in the back of my mind, like a dream you can't forget. It didn't help that my shift seemed to have some sort of physical effect on me either. I was boiling hot all the time, even when I had my fan on high. I couldn't sit still either. It felt like what I imagine ADHD felt like. I couldn't concentrate on anything for long, my mind wandering and sometimes feeling like an overloaded computer - trying to process what had happened even days later. I tried everything; sleep, food, exercise, yoga, meditation, and so much more but nothing helped. The only logical next step was to try and accept what had happened, and the very next night I was ready to shift for the second time. If I could prove to myself that this was real, that it wasn't all some fucked up dream, I would have no choice but to accept it and adapt.

So that is why I was I walking out my back door at one in the morning. I had waited until everyone had gone to bed, my brother included, though I doubt he would have said anything. I've caught him sneaking out on more than one occasion and he knew it too.

The darkness that comes with night had little effect on my vision, something that I had slowly grown accustomed to over the last few days. My sneakers made soft sounds as I made my way into the woods just behind my house. I really lucked out living in a place where you were never too far from the forest, even in the centre of town.

After a few minutes, I reached a clearing near a creek. The area was just what I needed, open and far enough away from anyone that I wouldn't risk getting caught. I paused at the edge of the clearing, thinking back to my first shift; my clothes had been destroyed. Signing I realized that my options were limited to either striping now, or risk walking and sneaking back into my house completely naked. Knowing the better option, I made quick work of my clothes before slowly stepping towards the middle of the cleared area.

I didn't know what to expect coming out here, but this wasn't it. Thinking back on it, I didn't really have a plan. I didn't know how to shift again, didn't even know where to start. I was tempted to just put my clothes back on and go home, but something stopped me. If I didn't do this now, I had a feeling that something bad would happen.

"That's cuz it will. If you don't shift every so often, you can lose control and shift out of nowhere. If that were to be in public… well, we all know how much people fear what they don't know."

If asked about this moment today, I will wholeheartedly deny that I screamed like a little girl. I whipped my head around, and my arms clamped over my chest. I looked all around me for the source of the sound, but… there was nothing. No one was there. Tensely I called out a quite, "Hello?", all the while still looking around me for anyone that could have called out to me.

'You won't see me. I'm in your head dumbass,' It answers. The voice sounds feminine, not like a child but rather someone my age. Sassy as all hell too. By now I was thoroughly confused and at least a little bit fearful. Was I hearing things? That was the last thing I needed, another sassy, bitchy voice following me around twenty-four seven.

'I take offence to that. I still have feelings you know.'

Feeling just a little bit crazy, I threw out a question into the empty air around me. "Um… Who are you? Better yet, why are you in my head?"

'Oh, you really don't know? Okay. How should I explain this… oh, I've got it! I'm your fox. Nope, sounds too demining like I'm a pet or some-'

"My what now?" I questioned, cutting off the voice mid-sentence.

'Fox. You know the little furry creature you shift into? Ringing any bells yet princess?' She said, the sarcasm clearly evident in her tone.

"No, no I got that part. I'm just not getting what you mean… Are you the fox? But if you're the fox, how am I the fox? I'm lost" I sighed.

'Honey,' She started, clearly already done with this conversation. 'We are one in the same. I'm in your human body and you are in my fox body. We share. Getting it now?'

'Okay… but why?' No matter how I wrapped my head around this, it just didn't make sense. Sharing bodies, hearing voices, changing forms… it was all one big mystery to me.

'That's why I'm here. I'm here to help you. Do you want to shift again? I can help you with that. If you'll let me, that is.'

I was a little apprehensive but I was more curious about how this disembodied voice of a fox could help me shift. After a minute, I finally made my decision and responded, "Okay, Voice. What do I need to do?"

'Well, firstly, you can not call me Voice. My name is Naya. Use it.' The voice, Naya, responded.

"Sorry, please continue," I said, shaking my head.

'You have to concentrate. Try and go back to that night, your first shift. Remember what it felt like to change from human to animal - what it felt like to shift.' Naya explained, her voice taking on a softer sound.

I took a breath and really tried my best to do what Naya had said. I thought about everything I could remember about my first shift. How it felt to feel my bones shift and break under the compression, how my skin broke and tore as thick fur took the place of bare skin. I could feel the fear wash over me and I felt the need to just run - to escape from what I couldn't see. My body shook and everything just felt too small. I broke out in a sweat, my legs caved beneath me, bones broke and melded back together and I let out a small scream before the pain eventually subsided.

'That wasn't so hard, was it? Only took… ten minutes this time!' Naya said, breaking the momentary silence once again. Asshole

'I heard that, Honey. We share a brain, nothing gets by me.' I could hear the smirk in her voice. I knew if I could see her right now, her face would be broken out into one of those trademark fox smirks.

This was going to be a long night. 'Hell yeah, it is. I hope you're ready to work your ass off.'

* * *

 **Hi, I got a little lazy with this chapter and just honestly can't wait to write new chapters for you guys. Sorry about the delay but school is kicking ass this month. Hopefully, I'll get more time to post after exams in a few weeks.**

 **Anyways this chapters question will be, What would your reaction be to hearing a voice in your head like Naya?**


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